CRMC unanimously approves Block Island Wind Farm

THE R.I. COASTAL RESOURCES Management Council has awarded Deepwater Wind LLC the final state permit required to begin on-site construction for the Block Island Wind Farm. Deepwater still needs to obtain federal permits before construction can begin. Above, a rendering of one of the proposed wind turbines.

Deepwater still needs to obtain federal approval from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before beginning on-site construction.

The CRMC approval puts the Block Island Wind Farm on course to become the first offshore wind farm in the United States. CEO Jeffrey Grybowski has said previously that he expects to begin local construction on the project in early 2015, with a target operational date of 2016.

American offshore wind power has the potential to be something great. Rhode Island’s Block Island project, one of the most promising in the country, will mark a major milestone in America’s wind power history.

All along the coastal states, support is growing for this clean, proven resource.

The potential addition of offshore wind to the United States’ already impressive generating portfolio of land-based wind power demonstrates that the American appetite for finding solutions to complex problems such as our energy future will go on.

Wind power has already shown its ability to substitute for more traditional forms of generation, reliably fulfilling demand with an energy resource that will create jobs and opportunities for economic development.

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